4 Entropic Specter
1 Multani, Maro-Sorcerer
1 Nullmage Advocate
2 Psychatog
1 Seizan, Perverter of Truth
3 Sibilant Spirit
2 Soldevi Sentry
3 Viseling
2 Arcane Laboratory
3 Dark Suspicions
4 Howling Mine
1 Malignant Growth
2 Oath of Scholars
1 Pulse of the Grid
3 Standstill
1 Storm Seeker
1 Underworld Dreams
2 Zombie Infestation
4 Island
8 Swamp
1 Grand Coliseum
3 Llanowar Wastes
2 Polluted Delta
1 Tainted Isle
1 Tainted Wood
3 Underground River |
   It's
a Draw.
Description of deck by its author (quoted):
And now we head into the wayback machine.
There were Spirits around long before Kamigawa, of course. While
perusing the list, two caught my eye for their, um, synergy. Filling
your opponent's hand with cards usually isn't a good thing, but Sibilant
Spirit can do that (if your opponent cooperates), which will make your
Entropic Specter (which is inexplicably a Spirit, not a Specter, as Mark
Rosewater discussed on Monday) huge. This got me thinking: How does
Sibilant Spirit's drawback get neutralized? How can I get to a situation
where my opponent declines the card draw?
Dreamborn Muse, another Spirit, can punish my opponent
for having a full hand. But if I've got a 5/6 flyer and, hopefully,
another that's 6/6 or 7/7 or so, then milling doesn't seem like a top
priority to me. No, I figure that Entropic Specter is on the right track.
There are other cards along these lines: Multani, Maro-Sorcerer. Storm
Seeker. Underworld Dreams. Viseling and its Black Visey ilk, including
Dark Suspicions. They all turn cards in my opponent's hand into damage to
his head.
A less direct way is for me to benefit from the full
grip across the table. Assuming I can keep my hand relatively empty (which
I want to do to maximize Dark Suspicions damage), then Oath of Scholars
and Pulse of the Grid will pay off for me.
That still leaves two questions: How do I empty my hand,
and how do I keep my opponent's hand full? Two of the best methods for
ditching cards are Psychatog and Zombie Infestation. Those can flush out
my entire hand at once like Drano on a clogged bowel. As for forcing cards
into my opponent's hands (which becomes subversively fun, in a bizarro
twist on how most Magic games play out, as soon as your opponent realizes
he doesn't want them), Howling Mine is the classic standby. Seizan,
Perverter of Truth is a Spirit (ring the theme bell!) that'll do it, as
will Malignant Growth and Nullmage Advocate. As an added bonus, two of
those are painful as well as brainful. Soldevi Sentry offers your opponent
the same dare as Sibilant Spirit. Standstill is interesting in this
deck—early on, you want your opponent to break it so you get the cards;
later on, you'll break it yourself to give your Specters +3/+3 and ramp up
the Dark Suspicions. And Arcane Lab can create a bottleneck on the card
outflow line even as the card inflow line is turned up to full blast. Ever
seen a brain explode?
That deck is, obviously, a hodge-podge. It should be
streamlined—more 4-ofs, less 1-ofs—but for now it serves as an idea cache.
I don't know which cards in which combinations work out the best, so
they're all in there for you to adapt however you see fit. |
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